Method for providing application data of at least one application executable on a control unit of a vehicle, method for calibrating a control unit, control unit and evaluation unit

ABSTRACT

A method for providing application data of at least one application executable on a control unit of a vehicle. The control unit includes components for running an operating system including a virtual memory management. In the method, an application address space of a first virtual memory is initially read out, the application address space being assigned to a process of the application and representing an area of a physical memory of the control unit occupied by the application data. The application address space is mapped in a further step into a virtual address space, which is assigned to a process of a communication application for exchanging data via a communication interface to a control unit-external evaluation unit. The application data are therefore retrievable via the communication interface.

FIELD

The present invention is directed to a method and to a device forproviding application data of at least one application executable on acontrol unit. The present invention is also directed to a computerprogram.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Conventional microcontrollers including integrated peripheral componentssuch as, for example, flash or RAM memories are generally used incontrol units of motor vehicles. Such components usually have no memoryvirtualization mechanism that includes a memory management unit, or MMUfor short. The measurement and adjustment of parameters is facilitatedvia the XCP protocol (Universal Measurement and Calibration Protocol).In this case, arbitrary memory cells are read out and displayed on ametrology computer. Due to the lack of a memory management unit, suchcontrol units are usually not suited for the use of modern operatingsystems such as Linux or QNX.

Modern microprocessors, which have fast processing units, externalmemories and memory management units, are today already used ininfotainment control units. Occasionally, operating systems are employedhere, which use memory visualization. In this case, primarily simplelogging mechanisms are used, which limit the parameterization of thesystem.

Modern operating systems and microprocessors play an important role indriver assistance systems. These require comprehensive measuring andcalibration possibilities.

SUMMARY

In accordance with example embodiments of the present invention, amethod for providing application data of at least one applicationexecutable on a control unit of a vehicle, a control unit that uses thismethod, a method for calibrating a control unit, an evaluation unit thatuses this method and, finally, a corresponding computer program areprovided. Advantageous refinements of and improvements on the examplemethod and device are possible with the measures described herein.

The approach presented herein is based on the finding that in amicroprocessor, as it is used, for example, in control units for driverassistance systems, a PMD (PMD=Process Measurement Daemon) or anothercommunication application executable in a virtual memory may be used forcommunication with a control unit-external measuring computer. Thisenables a simple reading out of measured and calibration data fromdifferent allocated memory areas of the microprocessor, specifically,regardless of an actual memory mapping of the virtual memory management.

The approach presented herein describes, among other things, how ameasuring and calibration interface may be used with XCP onmicroprocessors that include modern operating systems and memoryvirtualization. This possibility is essential for driver assistancecontrol units, for example, for autonomous driving. In particular, theapproach presented herein enables, for example, the implementation of anXCP metrology interface among POSIX-compatible operating systems(Portable Operating System Interface).

This has the advantage that a previously established metrology protocolincluding corresponding PC tools may continue to be used in driverassistance control units. Thus, new microprocessor-based systemsincluding memory virtualization may continue to be analyzed andcalibrated using established measuring tools. In light of thefar-reaching technological changes in control units, it is thus possibleto reduce to a minimum the adaptation effort in the area of metrology.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, amethod is provided for providing application data of at least oneapplication executable on a control unit for a vehicle, the control unitincluding components for running an operating system that includesvirtual memory management, the method including the following steps:

-   -   reading out an application address space of a first virtual        memory, the application address space being assigned to a        process of the application and representing an area of a        physical memory of the control unit occupied by the application        data; and    -   mapping the application address space of an additional virtual        memory into a virtual address space, which is assigned to a        process of a communication application for exchanging data via a        communication interface to an external evaluation unit, in order        to provide the application data via the communication interface.

The application data may be measured data or calibration data, forexample. The application data may be or may have been used and/orcreated by the process of the application. A control unit may beunderstood to mean, for example, an engine control unit or a device forcontrolling driver assistance functions. An application may beunderstood to mean a computer program or a software. An application maybe understood to mean, for example, an instance of a program functioningas a slave. The application may be executable, in particular, within avirtual process area. The components may be understood to mean, forexample, a microprocessor or microcontroller or a volatile ornon-volatile memory. The operating system may be, in particular, aPOSIX-conforming operating system, in particular, also a real-timeoperating system such as, for example, Linux or QNX. Virtual memorymanagement may be understood to mean a type of memory management, inwhich the memory addresses generated by an application form a virtualaddress space, the addresses of which go not directly to a memory bus,but to a memory management unit. The memory management unit maps thevirtual addresses onto addresses of the actually present physicalmemory. In this sense, a virtual address space may be understood to meanan address space independent of the physical memory, which the operatingsystem assigns to a process. Accordingly, an application address spacemay be understood to mean a virtual address space assigned by theoperating system to a process of the application which, in turn, refersto a particular address space of the physical memory. The applicationaddress space of an application and/or the virtual address space of thecommunication application may include data in the form of pointers,which refer to memory sections of the physical memory.

A physical memory may be understood to mean a volatile or non-volatilememory, for example, in the form of a flash memory or RAM memory. Thephysical memory may, for example, be integrated into the microprocessoror microcontroller of the control unit or implemented as an externalmemory. A communication application may be understood to mean, inparticular, a programming tool for code analysis, for example, a processmeasurement daemon, a so-called PMD, or the like. A communicationinterface may be understood to mean a measuring and calibrationinterface for exchanging measured data and calibration data, forexample, via the XCP protocol or another suitable network protocol. Thecommunication interface may be designed on the hardware side as a radiointerface or cable-connected interface, for example, as an Ethernetinterface. A control unit-external evaluation unit may be understood tomean, for example, a measuring and calibration computer couplable to thecontrol unit, for example, in the form of a laptop or PC. Thecommunication interface may include a protocol layer, which is separatedfrom the transport layer so that, for example, a transport layer basedon the CAN bus may be used.

According to one specific example embodiment of the present invention,the application data may be provided in a step of providing as thecommunication interface via an XCP interface. An XCP interface may beunderstood to mean an interface for exchanging data via a standardizedmeasuring and calibration protocol for the control unit calibration,also referred to as Universal Measurement and Calibration Protocol. Inthis way, the universal applicability of the method may be ensured.

The process of the communication application may be designed in order tocarry out the step of reading out and the step of mapping without theaid of a hardware unit for the memory management. The control unit maythus be designed without a so-called MMU (Memory Management Unit).

According to a further specific embodiment of the present invention, atleast one physical and/or virtual address of the application data may beread out as the application address space in the step of reading out. Aphysical address may be understood to mean a location of an occupiedarea of the physical memory. A virtual address may be understood to meanan area of a virtual memory referring to the physical address. Thisspecific embodiment may ensure an efficient and reliable ascertainmentof the application address space.

In addition, the application address space may be mapped in the step ofmapping into the virtual address space with the aid of a POSIX-basedoperating system. A POSIX-based operating system may be understood tomean a POSIX-conforming, largely POSIX-conforming operating system, oroperating system made POSIX-conforming via expansions of compatibility.With this specific embodiment, it is possible to implement a highlyefficient memory management.

According to a further specific embodiment, the application addressspace may be read out in response to a predetermined event of theprocess assigned to the application. For example, the step of readingout may be carried out in response to a start or completion of theprocess assigned to the application. In this way, it is possible, forexample, to read out constantly updated data via the communicationinterface.

In the step of reading out, a second virtual application address spaceof a second virtual memory may be read out, which is assigned to aprocess of a second application executable on the control unit and whichrepresents an area of the physical memory occupied by second applicationdata of the second application. Accordingly, the second applicationaddress space may be mapped in the step of mapping into the virtualaddress space in order to provide the second application data via thecommunication interface. The second application data may be or may havebeen used and/or created by the process of the second application.Through the ability of multiple virtual memories of multipleapplications to be accessed by the process of the communicationapplication, it is possible to read out and calibrate together data ofmultiple different applications of the control unit via thecommunication interface.

The approach presented herein further provides a control unit, which isdesigned to carry out, activate or implement the steps of a variant of amethod presented herein in corresponding units. With this embodimentvariant of the present invention in the form of a control unit as well,it is possible to quickly and efficiently achieve the object underlyingthe present invention.

For this purpose, the control unit may include at least one processingunit for processing signals or data, at least one memory unit forstoring signals or data, at least one interface to a sensor or to anactuator for reading in sensor signals from the sensor or for outputtingcontrol signals to the actuator and/or at least one communicationinterface for reading in or outputting data, which are embedded in acommunication protocol. The processing unit may, for example, be asignal processor, a microcontroller or the like, the memory unit capableof being a flash memory, an EPROM or a magnetic memory unit. Thecommunication interface may be designed to read in or output datawirelessly and/or in a hardwired manner, a communication interface,which is able to read in or output hardwired data, being capable, forexample, of reading in these data electrically or optically from acorresponding data transmission line or outputting these data into acorresponding data transmission line.

A control unit in the present case may be understood to mean anelectrical device which processes sensor signals and, as a functionthereof, outputs control signals and/or data signals. The control unitmay include an interface, which may be designed in hardware and/or insoftware. In a hardware design, the interfaces may, for example, be partof a so-called system ASIC, which contains a wide variety of functionsof the device. It is also possible, however, for the interfaces to beseparate, integrated circuits or to be made at least partly of discretecomponents. In a software design, the interfaces may be softwaremodules, which are present, for example, on a microcontroller alongsideother software modules.

In one advantageous embodiment of the present invention, a control ofthe vehicle takes place via the control unit. For this purpose, thecontrol unit may, for example, access sensor signals such as, forexample, acceleration signals, pressure signals, steering angle signalsor surroundings sensor signals. The activation may take place viaactuators such as brake actuators or steering actuators or via an enginecontrol unit of the vehicle

According to one specific embodiment of the present invention, thecontrol unit may include as the units at least one microprocessor, onephysical memory, one first virtual memory assigned to the applicationand one second virtual memory assigned to the communication application.In this way, the control unit may be implemented having high computingpower with comparatively low manufacturing costs and minimal spacerequirements.

The present invention described herein further provides an examplemethod for calibrating a control unit using application data that havebeen provided in a method according to one of the preceding specificembodiments. In accordance with an example embodiment of the presentinvention, the method includes the following steps:

-   -   reading in the application data via the communication interface        using the communication application;    -   generating a piece of calibration information for adjusting at        least one parameter of the control unit using the application        data; and    -   outputting the piece of calibration information to the        communication interface in order to calibrate the control unit.

A piece of calibration information may, for example, be understood tomean a description file for control unit-internal variables, for examplean A2L file, or another piece of information suitable for carrying outmeasuring or adjustment operations.

These aforementioned methods may, for example, be implemented insoftware or in hardware or in a mixed form made up of software andhardware, for example, in a control unit.

The present invention also provides an evaluation unit including units,which are designed to carry out and/or to activate the method accordingto the preceding specific example embodiments.

An evaluation unit may be understood to mean a control unit-external orvehicle-external computer.

Also advantageous in accordance with the present invention is a computerprogram product or computer program having program code, which may bestored on a machine-readable medium or memory medium, such as asemiconductor memory, a hard disk memory or an optical memory, and whichis used for carrying out, implementing and/or activating the steps ofthe method according to one of the previously described specificembodiments, in particular, when the program product or program isexecuted on a computer or a device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are shown in the figuresand explained in greater detail below.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a representation of a topology of Multi-XCPslaves.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a representation of a control unit from FIG.1.

FIG. 3 schematically shows a representation of a memory organization ina control unit according to one exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a representation of a microprocessor fromFIG. 2.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of a method for providing application dataaccording to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of a method for calibrating a control unitaccording to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 schematically shows a representation of an evaluation unitaccording to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

In the following description of preferred exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention, identical or similar reference numerals are used forelements which are represented in the various figures and act similarly,a repeated description of these elements being omitted.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a representation of two topologies ofMulti-XCP slaves. For a better comparison, the topologies are depictedone on top of the other and separated from one another by a dashed line.

The upper topology includes, for example, a first control unit 100,which represents a first XCP slave, a second control unit 102, whichrepresents a second XCP slave, and a third control unit 104, whichrepresents a third XCP slave. A control unit-external evaluation unit106, here for example a metrology PC, is coupled via an XCP interface ascommunication interface 108 to each of three control units 100, 102, 104for measuring and calibration purposes. The complete control units 100,102, 104 are each considered to be an XCP slave. Evaluation unit 106 inthis case is able to communicate simultaneously with multiple slaves,for example, with an ESP control unit and an engine control unit, forexample, in order to exchange measured and/or calibration data.

The lower topology shows a control unit 110 according to one exemplaryembodiment of the approach presented herein. According to the approachpresented herein, each instance of an application in control unit 110 isnow considered to be an XCP slave, for example. A first application 112,a second application 114, a third application 116 and a communicationapplication 118 are shown, for example, as instances executable incontrol unit 110. Communication application 118 is designed tocommunicate with evaluation unit 106 via an external communicationinterface 108, i.e., to write data into respective control unit 110 orto read out data from control unit 110.

Control unit 110 shown in the lower topology, for example, a POSIXcontrol unit including virtual memory management, is coupled viacommunication interface 108 to evaluation unit 106, similar to controlunits 100, 102, 104 shown in the upper topology. The variousapplications 112, 114, 116, 118 are executable on control unit 110 incorresponding virtual memory areas of an operating system. In this case,first application 112 represents a first XCP slave, second application114 represents a second XCP slave and third application 116 represents athird XCP slave. In addition, communication application 118 isexecutable on control unit 110, for example, for exchanging measureddata and calibration data via communication interface 108. According tothis exemplary embodiment, communication application 118 is a processmeasurement daemon, PMD for short, for the external code analysis withthe aid of evaluation unit 106.

According to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, controlunit 110 is designed to read out an application address space fromapplication data of application 112, for example, of measured data andcalibration data, with the aid of the operating system. The applicationaddress space in this case represents a physical memory area of controlunit 110 occupied by the application data. In order to make theapplication data accessible via communication interface 108, controlunit 110 maps the application address space into a virtual process areaof communication application 118. Thus, the application data arereferenced in the virtual memory of communication application 118 andretrievable via communication interface 108 with the aid of evaluationunit 106 regardless of an actual memory mapping of control unit 110.

According to one further exemplary embodiment of the present invention,control unit 110 is designed, in addition to the application addressspace of application 112, to read out additional application addressspaces of the respective application data of the two applications 114,116 and to map them into the virtual address space of communicationapplication 118, so that the application data of the two applications114, 116 may also be accessed via the virtual address space ofcommunication applications 118.

According to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, controlunit 110 does not include a hardware unit for the memory management.Instead, communication application 118 is designed to access directlythe physical memory. Communication application 118 is further designedto read out directly virtual memories of applications 112, 114, 116 orto receive application address spaces encompassed by the virtualmemories of applications 112, 114, 116.

According to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, controlunit 110 is situated in a vehicle and evaluation unit 106 is alsosituated in the vehicle or outside the vehicle. For example, evaluationunit 106 is coupled only temporarily to control unit 110 viacommunication interface 108, for example, during a workshop visit.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a representation of control unit 110 fromFIG. 1 according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Asoftware architecture based on a POSIX real-time operating system 200,which manages the processes of the various applications 112, 114, 118,and based on a microprocessor 202 as a processing unit, are shown.

According to this exemplary embodiment, control unit 110 includesmultiple programs or applications 112, 114 independent of one another inthe form of ELF files (ELF=Executable and Linking Format), situated in abinary manner in a non-volatile memory of control unit 110. Firstapplication 112, for example, is based on an ELF-file “A.elf”, secondapplication 114 is based on an ELF file “B.elf”, an x-th application isbased on an ELF file “X.elf”.

At the start of applications 112, 114, 118, an operating system loaderensures that the necessary resources are physically allocated. In theprocess, physical memory pages, for example, a 4 KB, are reserved andmapped to a potentially different address in the respective virtualaddress space, also referred to as application address space, of theprocess of respective application 112, 114, 118, as it is describedbelow with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 schematically shows a representation of a memory organization ina control unit 110 according to one exemplary embodiment, for example,the control unit described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Aphysical memory 300 of control unit 110 is shown, as well as forexample, a first virtual memory 302 representing a virtual process areaof the first application, a second virtual memory 304 representing avirtual process area of the second application, as well as an additionalvirtual memory 306, which is assigned to the communication application,here, the process measurement daemon. First virtual memory 302 is, forexample, assigned to an application or to a process A.elf and secondvirtual memory 304 is assigned to an application or to a process B.elf.

The four memories 300, 302, 304, 306 are each schematically depicted asa memory page table including a plurality of rows, each of whichrepresents a particular memory area of equal size including a uniqueaddress, for example, including a hexadecimal address of 0x . . . 0000to 0xF . . . FFFF. Memory areas occupied by the respective applicationdata are marked with the ending “data”. Other application-related dataare marked with the ending “text”.

The .text and .data files of the first application are mapped into firstvirtual memory 302. Similarly, the .text- and .data-files of the secondapplication are mapped into the second virtual memory. The .data filesof both the first and the second application, i.e., their respectiveapplication data, are mapped into additional virtual memory 306 and areretrievable from there via the communication interface.

The data contained in first virtual memory 302 may be regarded asapplication address space of a process of the first application. Thedata contained in second virtual memory 304 may be regarded asapplication address space of a process of the second application. Thedata contained in additional virtual memory 306 may be regarded asvirtual address space of additional virtual memory 306.

The application data are provided by the processes to be measured, herefor example, the processes A.elf and B.elf of the first and secondapplication, communicating at the start via interprocess communicationof the communication application which memory areas exactly contain therespective application data. Pieces of information are conveyedrelating, among other things, to physical and virtual addresses of thecorresponding data sections. The communication application now maps thephysical memory areas of the applications to be measured into itsvirtual process area, here, additional virtual memory 306. The addressspace of additional virtual memory 306 may thus represent physicalmemory areas of the first and second applications related to physicalmemory 300. An external measuring program, which may be executed in adevice situated externally of the control unit, may subsequentlycommunicate with the communication application and query the applicationdata, for example, via Ethernet. The external measuring program in thiscase requires no knowledge of the memory mapping actually proceeding incontrol unit 110, with which all known metrologies known from the worldof microcontrollers may continue to be used without changes.

The mapping between physical memory 300 and virtual memories 302, 304,306 is indicated by multiple connecting lines. The connecting lines inthis case marked with reference numeral 308 represent a normal programmapping with the aid of MMU, whereas the connecting lines marked withreference numeral 310 represent a measuring and calibration mapping.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a representation of a microprocessor 202 fromFIG. 2 according to one exemplary embodiment. According to thisexemplary embodiment, microprocessor 202 includes a read-out unit 400for reading out the application address spaces as well as a mapping unit402 for mapping the application address space into the associatedvirtual memory of the communication application. Read-out unit 400 andmapping unit 402 may be implemented in software as parts of thecommunication application and/or as parts of an application of thecontrol unit utilizing a named application address space.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of a method 500 for providing application dataaccording to one exemplary embodiment. Method 500 may, for example, becarried out by a control unit, as it is described above with referenceto FIGS. 1 through 4. In this case, the application address space, whichrepresents a physical memory area of the control unit occupied by theapplication data, is read out in a first step 502. The mapping of theapplication address space into the virtual memory of the communicationapplication takes place in a further step 504. In this way, theapplication data are retrievable from the outside via the virtual memoryof the communication application.

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of a method 600 for calibrating a control unitaccording to one exemplary embodiment. Method 600 may, for example, becarried out by an evaluation unit, as it is described above withreference to FIG. 1. In this case, the application data referenced inthe virtual memory of the communication application are read into theevaluation unit in a step 602 via the communication interface byaddressing the communication application. A piece of calibrationinformation, for example, an A2L description file, is generated in afurther step 604 using the application data for adjusting controlunit-internal parameters. In a step 606, the piece of calibrationinformation or a piece of information derived therefrom is output to thecommunication interface in order to suitably adjust the relevantparameters in the control unit.

FIG. 7 schematically shows a representation of an evaluation unit 106according to one exemplary embodiment. Evaluation unit 106 includes agenerating unit 700, which is designed to generate at least one seconddata packet 708 representing the piece of calibration information forcalibrating the control unit, while using at least one first data packet702 representing the application data provided by the control unit. Anoutput unit 706 is designed to output second data packet 704 or a datapacket based thereon to the communication interface.

If an exemplary embodiment includes an “and/or” linkage between a firstfeature and a second feature, this is to be read in the sense that theexemplary embodiment according to one specific embodiment includes boththe first feature and the second feature, and according to anotherspecific embodiment, either only the first feature or only the secondfeature.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing application data of atleast one application executable on a control unit for a vehicle, themethod comprising: reading out an application address space of a firstvirtual memory, the application address space being assigned to aprocess of the application and representing an area of a physical memoryof the control unit occupied by the application data, wherein thecontrol unit includes components for running an operating systemincluding virtual memory management; and mapping the application addressspace into a virtual address space of an additional virtual memory,which is assigned to a process of a communication application forexchanging data via a communication interface to a control unit-externalevaluation unit to provide the application data via the communicationinterface; wherein the application address space can be read out inresponse to a predetermined event of the process assigned to theapplication, including in response to a start or a completion of theprocess assigned to the application, so that constantly updated data canbe read out via the communication interface.
 2. The method as recited inclaim 1, further comprising: providing the application data via an XCPinterface as the communication interface.
 3. The method as recited inclaim 1, wherein the process of the communication application isconfigured to carry out the reading out and the mapping, without ahardware unit for memory management (MMU).
 4. The method as recited inclaim 1, wherein in the reading out, at least one physical address ofthe application data or virtual address of the application data is readout as the application address space.
 5. The method as recited in claim1, wherein in the mapping, the application address space is mapped intothe virtual address space using a POSIX-based operating system of thecontrol unit.
 6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein in thereading out, a second virtual application address space of a secondvirtual memory, which is assigned to a process of a second applicationexecutable on the control unit, and which represents an area of thephysical memory occupied by second application data of the secondapplication, is read out, in the mapping, the second application addressspace is mapped into the virtual address space to provide the secondapplication data via the communication interface.
 7. A control unit fora vehicle, comprising: units, wherein the control unit is configured toprovide application data of at least one application executable on thecontrol unit, and wherein the control unit includes components forrunning an operating system including virtual memory management; whereinthe control unit is configured to perform the following: reading out anapplication address space of a first virtual memory, the applicationaddress space being assigned to a process of the application andrepresenting an area of a physical memory of the control unit occupiedby the application data; and mapping the application address space intoa virtual address space of an additional virtual memory, which isassigned to a process of a communication application for exchanging datavia a communication interface to a control unit-external evaluation unitto provide the application data via the communication interface; whereinthe application address space can be read out in response to apredetermined event of the process assigned to the application,including in response to a start or a completion of the process assignedto the application, so that constantly updated data can be read out viathe communication interface.
 8. The control unit as recited in claim 7,wherein the units include a microprocessor, the physical memory, thefirst virtual memory assigned to the application, and the additionalvirtual memory assigned to the communication application.
 9. A methodfor calibrating a control unit using application data, the methodcomprising: providing the application data of at least one applicationexecutable on the control unit for a vehicle, the control unit includingcomponents for running an operating system including virtual memorymanagement, the providing including the following: reading out anapplication address space of a first virtual memory, the applicationaddress space being assigned to a process of the application andrepresenting an area of a physical memory of the control unit occupiedby the application data, and mapping the application address space intoa virtual address space of an additional virtual memory, which isassigned to a process of a communication application for exchanging datavia a communication interface to a control unit-external evaluation unitto provide the application data via the communication interface; readingin the application data via the communication interface using thecommunication application; generating a piece of calibration informationfor adjusting at least one parameter of the control unit using theapplication data; and outputting the piece of calibration information tothe communication interface to calibrate the control unit; wherein theapplication address space can be read out in response to a predeterminedevent of the process assigned to the application, including in responseto a start or a completion of the process assigned to the application,so that constantly updated data can be read out via the communicationinterface.
 10. An evaluation apparatus, comprising: an evaluation unitconfigured to calibrate a control unit, for a vehicle, using applicationdata of at least one application executable on the control unit, whereinthe control unit includes components for running an operating systemincluding virtual memory management, the application data having beenprovided by the control unit by reading out an application address spaceof a first virtual memory, the application address space being assignedto a process of the application and representing an area of a physicalmemory of the control unit occupied by the application data, and mappingthe application address space into a virtual address space of anadditional virtual memory, which is assigned to a process of acommunication application for exchanging data via a communicationinterface to the evaluation unit to provide the application data via thecommunication interface; wherein the evaluation unit is furtherconfigured to perform the following: reading in the application data viathe communication interface using the communication application;generating a piece of calibration information for adjusting at least oneparameter of the control unit using the application data; and outputtingthe piece of calibration information to the communication interface tocalibrate the control unit; wherein the application address space can beread out in response to a predetermined event of the process assigned tothe application, including in response to a start or a completion of theprocess assigned to the application, so that constantly updated data canbe read out via the communication interface.
 11. A non-transitorymachine-readable memory medium, on which is stored a computer program,which is executable by a control unit, comprising: a program codearrangement having program code for providing application data of atleast one application executable on the control unit for a vehicle, thecontrol unit including components for running an operating systemincluding virtual memory management, by performing the following:reading out an application address space of a first virtual memory, theapplication address space being assigned to a process of the applicationand representing an area of a physical memory of the control unitoccupied by the application data; and mapping the application addressspace into a virtual address space of an additional virtual memory,which is assigned to a process of a communication application forexchanging data via a communication interface to a control unit-externalevaluation unit to provide the application data via the communicationinterface; wherein the application address space can be read out inresponse to a predetermined event of the process assigned to theapplication, including in response to a start or a completion of theprocess assigned to the application, so that constantly updated data canbe read out via the communication interface.